Why the EPCOT Food & Wine Festival is So Popular

For more than 30 years now, fans have known when and where to go at EPCOT.

During the 1990s, Walt Disney World’s most fascinating theme park introduced a new concept: the festival.

Within a few years, the EPCOT International Flower & Garden Festival had become a park staple.

However, another festival is more recognizable, and it’s recently become hotter than ever.

So, why is the EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival soaring in popularity? Well…

Standing Out from the Crowd

The toughest part of being a popular EPCOT festival is standing out from all the others.

EPCOT hosts festivals on most dates each year. In fact, in 2024, the park offers festivals on two-thirds of the days on the annual calendar.

Nearly 250 out of this year’s 366 days include festival dates, and it’s even harder because of Disney’s choices this year.

With so much recently opening at EPCOT, something we’ll discuss in the next section, park officials delayed Food & Wine for 2024.

The event had started on July 14^th and July 27^th for the previous two years, but EPCOT kept guests waiting until August 29^th this time.

That means a month fewer dates and less of a summer vibe for the festival, which has led to an unexpected outcome.

September attendance is in line with August’s crowds because Disney has provided guests with more incentive to visit.

When the festival opens in July, fans can combine summer vacation with Global Marketplace greatness.

By delaying the opening, Disney gave its customers more reason to wait until the fall, which I realize technically hasn’t begun yet.

Realistically, Disney’s summer campaign ends when school goes back in session, though, and that happened a month ago.

So, Disney crowds declined until August 29^th. Since then, they’ve grown mainly because people love the festival that much.

And you’re probably wondering why. I don’t believe there’s any single change but rather a multitude of reasons.

The Recent Changes

EPCOT’s biggest change is one I recently discussed about 2023 attendance.

When Imagineers redesigned the front half of EPCOT, they split Future World into three sections.

As part of that renovation, park officials provided guests with more hangout areas.

Coincidentally or not (and I say not), EPCOT’s attendance spiked last year while most other Florida theme parks regressed.

Then, earlier this year, CommuniCore Hall & Plaza opened. And the Food & Wine Festival has already directly benefited from it.

When this building first opened, it didn’t have a theme per se, as Disney simply showed it off.

Once the festival started, we appreciated the grand vision for CommuniCore. This is the new festival hub.

Disney is updating the space for each festival to make them all feel unique and exclusive.

We already witnessed how much fans wanted a more casual EPCOT experience with last year’s attendance numbers.

With the opening of CommuniCore, Food & Wine has become a haven for fans.

Whether you’re hungry, thirsty, or itching to shop, you can find something here.

Also, perhaps most importantly, you can sit down and enjoy the tranquility of a Disney vacation at CommuniCore.

Fans wanted EPCOT to be more of a gathering, and that’s precisely what CommuniCore Plaza is.

That’s on top of last year’s introduction of World Celebration Gardens and Dreamers Point.

Food & Wine was already the ideal way to spend time at a Disney park.

Now, the nights are somehow better thanks to all the enhancements augmenting Spaceship Earth as a Beacon of Magic.

EPCOT comes alive at night in a way it never had before last year, and festivals reap the rewards of these splendid visuals.

The Dynamic Exclusives

Of course, the overall park changes apply to all the festivals.

Food & Wine is somehow even better due to all its exclusives.

During the pandemic, park officials possessed a rare opportunity to reevaluate daily operations.

Since all the parks had attendance thresholds for public safety reasons, Disney planners could direct their attention elsewhere.

These individuals utilized a rare pause in the action to identify all the reasons why crowds love EPCOT festivals.

Many of these answers are self-explanatory, but when you’re in the heat of the moment, you can miss the forest for the trees.

For a time, park planners took a meta approach, and they quickly settled on a few highlights of each festival.

Fans treasure all the exclusive merchandise, foods, and beverages during these exhibitions.

So, Disney chose to give the people (i.e., us) what we wanted by leaning into our desires.

As ridiculous as it sounds, that contrasts with Disney’s historical behavior, in which it tried to control consumer behavior.

We’re raising more informed generations of tourists, forcing Disney to adapt.

These younger crowds want their exclusives, and Disney is giving them to us in droves.

Consider this list of more than 80 (!) entirely new items exclusive to the 2024 EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival.

There is no guarantee that we’ll ever see any of them again at the parks. This really may be it for all 80.

Therefore, fans feel more strongly compelled to visit the parks during Food & Wine. If you don’t act now, your opportunity is lost.

This fact isn’t lost on consumers, who are flocking to EPCOT for the best items at each Global Marketplace.  

Even More Exclusives

Notably, everything I just discussed is either a food or a beverage.

That’s only two-thirds of the essential components of a festival visit. The other is merchandise.

So, those 80+ items I just mentioned don’t even include the goodies you can buy at the various shops and kiosks.

If you missed our opening day coverage of Food & Wine, we shamelessly swarmed the merch, and we’d do it again, too!

In fact, our own Madeleine Lilly compiled a list of all the new items for sale solely during Food & Wine. It’ll make your bank account cry.

So, this year’s Food & Wine festival includes more than 100 items that won’t be available after the event has ended on November 23^rd.

These are now or never purchases, creating an urgency to visit that EPCOT hadn’t fostered until recently.

The park has created seasonal time capsules with these festivals.

Everything you experience and everything you purchase crystallizes those moments.

When you don’t visit Disney for this festival, you miss out on all the exclusives.

The Traditions

Tourists have developed a comfort level with the EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival.

Sure, the exclusives differentiate each event, but some aspects of the festival have become annual traditions.

For example, the Eat to the Beat concert series is something that motivates me to go each year.

In truth, that’s an annual tradition for me. I mock all the performers and describe them as long-forgotten one-hit-wonders.

Then, I carefully evaluate all my options so I can hopefully attend at the same time The Fray is playing. I’m a hypocrite.

Of course, Food & Wine belongs to the diehards, as Florida residents and frequent park guests visit the most.

For us, Food & Wine is a staple because it’s a marvelous way to spend the day/night.

Even better, the Global Marketplaces generally serve food that’s under $10. So, it’s one of the cheapest meals you can eat these days.

Here’s a recent Orlando Sentinel article describing how easily two people can find great food for a total of $50. Food & Wine makes for a cheap date!

To a larger point, the ascending popularity of Food & Wine occurs due to Disney getting smarter about its business.

As discussed, Disney has stopped trying to tell guests how they should act and instead listened to its customers.

Not coincidentally, festival attendance has become a must, and that’s not just applicable to Food & Wine.

All EPCOT festivals have surged in popularity as Disney has done a better job of giving the people what they want.

So, you can safely expect this trend to continue to thrive and grow.

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